SCRATCH BAKERS: Post your BEST recipes!!!!!!!!!!

Ok,So some people have been saying they have problems with scratch cakes. Let's all post our best scratch recipes so we can all learn from each other! I can't wait to see what yummy cakes are out there!

Decadently Moist White Cake (from Shubox bakery on epicurious website)-Once you try this cake, you will think you have died and gone to heaven. It is SO good! (warning, it can sometimes be a little bit tricky to ice because it is so moist, so I stick it in the freezer for a few before icing or slicing and never have a problem). Also, although it has coconut cream in it, it is not coconutty tasting really, and goes beautifully with most any flavors. I have made many many cakes and this is by FAR the most requested cake I have ever made! So buttery rich, just melts in your mouth!

COMBINATIONS I LIKE WITH THIS CAKEThis cake (recipe above) is perfect with vanilla buttercream and strawberry/orange filling with a grand marnier syrup, OR mango-pineapple filling and coconut buttercream (see recipe belwo) OR my personal favorite combination with Lemon Raspberry buttercream and lemon-raspberry syrup and raspberry filling (recipes for lemon raspberry cake to follow).

Lemon Raspberry Cake(adapted from epicurious recipes)This frosting, syrup and filling should be combined with the Decadently Moist White Cake listed in a prior post. This recipe is so good, the epitome of summertime! The natural OVER THE TOP - and yet is easy to make!

1. Add 1 and 1/2 (1.5) TB of lemon zest to the batter of Decadently Moist White Cake when you add the buttermilk.

Make lemon curd:In a small heavy saucepan whisk together yolks and sugar and whisk in lemon juice, butter, and a pinch of salt. Cook mixture over moderately low heat, whisking, until it reaches boiling point, 5 to 7 minutes (do not let it boil). Strain curd through a fine sieve into a bowl and cool, its surface covered with a plastic wrap. Chill curd, covered at least 4 hours or overnight.

Make buttercream:In a heavy saucepan combine sugar and water and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil syrup, undisturbed, until it reaches 248°F on candy thermometer. While syrup is boiling, in a standing electric mixer beat whites with a pinch salt until foamy and beat in cream of tarter. Beat whites until they just hold stiff peaks and add hot syrup in a stream, beating. Beat mixture at medium speed until completely cool, 15 to 20 minutes. Beat in butter, 1 piece at a time, and beat until it is thick and smooth. (Buttercream will at first appear very thin but as more butter is beaten in, it will thicken.) Beat in lemon curd and salt, beating until smooth, and drizzle in framboise, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating. Buttercream may be made 4 days ahead and chilled in an airtight container or 2 weeks ahead and frozen in anairtight container. Let buttercream come completely to room temperature (this may take several hours if frozen) and beat before using.

This is the best chocolate cake I have found, YUM! I usually use Vahlrona Chocolate to make it, and wow!

DEEP, RICH CHOCOLATE CAKE(recipe from epicurious)*Chef Ed Kasky uses Callebaut semisweet chocolate for the cake and Guittard French-vanilla chocolate for the frosting, but any fine-quality semisweet chocolate will produce a wonderful result in either.

This recipe is my grandfathers (from the Joy of Cooking), who used to own a bakery. It is an old-fashioned icing, also sometimes called Burnt Sugar Icing. It is SO good, everyone who tries it loves it. The best way to describe it is like a praline - sinfully rich, buttery and caramel-y. It is perfect with the chocolate cake I listed above, and topped with pecans, which I call Turtle Cake, because it is like those turtle candies - chocolate, caramel, and pecans. The one thing I will say about this icing is that it kind of sits on top of the cake and slightly drips down. It makes a beautiful cake, but does not lend itself to fancy decorating. However, everyone loves it! You have to try it.

Penuche FrostingMakes enough for one 9-10 inch 3 layer cake (really good with a chocolate cake, or a spice cake).

Put in a saucepan 4 cups dark brown sugar packed down hard, 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, and 1 cup cream. Boil gently to the soft ball stage or 238* on candy thermometer. Let cool just a little bit then add 2 tsp vanilla and beat with mixers until it starts to look less shiny then quickly dump between layers and on top of cake and spread (don't bother icing sides, just let it drip down ever so slightly. Top with whole pecan halves toasted with butter and salt if desired.

I second the recipes that brittanydear posted!!! that one with coco lopez is wonderful...and the choc cake is my most requested.

I use a white cake from here... "a better white scratch cake" in the CC recipe section... very consistent... I usually add some more flavoring to it depending on what people have asked for... but it's a great moist cake and easy to make.

Wow, the one with the coco lopez creme sounds delicious. But, would it still be considered a white cake if it has egg yolks? I thought that white cakes only used egg whites. I will definitely try. Any recipes by Toba Garrett are great (can't post, copyright issues) but I think that her chocolate ganache and chocolate icing are both posted in www.epicurious.com with her permission so you can check it there.

I get asked for this cake at least 1 out of every 3 orders and I get asked by my family way too much. I think we have single handedly with this recipe killed more diets than we've ever dreamed of trying!http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipes_rate-4083-5.htmlNow I use a chocolate ganche recipe from here to fill this alot. People love it!

My best scratch recipes are Toba Garrett's Moist butter cake and Slyvia Weinstocks's Classic yellow cake. First of all, Always have ingredients at room temperature. Don't overmix when adding flour. (And that would be SOFTASSILK cake flour) Nothing works better. And I always use Watkins Vanilla.

How do you find new recipes for cakes? My family has been box bakers my entire life (I remember my sister just a couple years ago being surprised it was possible to make a cake without a box mix- seriously), but I want to make cakes that don't taste like boxes. I've seen descriptions of cakes that sound absolutely divine, but have no idea where to start finding a recipe for them.

Just take a look on-line.. allrecipes.com and epicurious.com are a good place to start. I look here.. as here in the recipe section. Take a trip to the library and look in some cake books if they have some and any book store will have cake books too. Just don't be afraid to try.. if it comes out wrong.. try again. It takes practice.. but it's fun.. for me anyway.. LOL.

You can Google to get Toba Garrett's "Moist yellow cake and Classic Yellow cake By Slyvia Weinstock" Just type in "Classic Yellow cake" And "Moist yellow cake" Make sure they're The ones made by these Bakers.